I am always creating new lines and adding to my many ideas I already have. I find that when nymphing in the great lakes, if you don't have a good line, it won't turnover and allow precise casting. Something I did when creating a spey line for the GL's is use a double taper(7wt.) and cut the line after about 25ft' then made a loop and used a nymph taper in an 8wt.(shorter head and no belly) behind that. The extended 25' of DT line taper down from the thciker butt section. When you roll cast you can feel a power transfer as the heavier nymph taper pushes the butt end of the DT line and allows the line to turonver. This is great when nymphing as well since you don't have to worry about the weight(yes, many GL steelheaders use soft putty, splitshot, and bead head nymphs) and indicators not turning over. It's truly a great lakes setup, what do you think?

I wanted to add a few comments. Latley(last 2 years) I have been hearing about how great "euro" rods are, and their advantages over traditional rods. Personally, I own one rod that has a fast, european action which I use in the surf and larger rivers where I can swtich cast and use the tip to lay out longer casts. In our Great Lakes region, the rivers are typically smaller and backcasts can be impossible at times. I find that a traditional rod may be more suited for roll casting and laying out line since the flex allows certain casts needed on smaller rivers to be performed easier. Now if I had the money, I would buy the Lamiglas traditional spey, but I don't so I had to invest in a lower end rod. The St. Croix 13' 7/8 rod has a moderate action, but I find that performs roll, single spey, double spey, and snake roll casts very easily, and bends to the upper part of the butt. It isn't a full flex, but it flexes easily and provides good turnover. It is a great indicator rod too, and turns over a DT line easily.